Friday, June 20, 2014

Support benefits for vets. Don’t support the common core.

Sent to the Santa Monica Daily Press
June 20, 2014

There is concern about a US Senate bill (S. 2450) that would expand medical coverage for veterans. The cost will be high, about $50 billion per year.

I propose we pay for this important bill by dumping the common core state education standards. The standards will probably cost taxpayers close to $50 billion a year – all common core tests will be given online, which means each student must have an updated computer (figure 50 million students with a new computer every three years), and new software and infrastructure. The common core is bringing in more testing than ever seen in the history of our planet. This requires additional funding to create, score, and regularly revise tests.

Paying for veteran benefits makes good sense. In contrast there is no evidence that the common core will help children and plenty of evidence that it will not. Studies show that increasing testing does not improve school performance. The new standards may be "tougher" but this does not mean they are better. The common core, as Susan Ohanian has characterized it, is simply a “radical untried curriculum overhaul” combined with “nonstop national testing."